


Bound at First Sight

by JustEm19



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: F/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-05-29 17:56:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19405288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustEm19/pseuds/JustEm19
Summary: A soulmate. Your other half. Two entities bonded together for life, your perfect match. It was everyone’s dream to find their soulmate. No one knows when they’ll find theirs. The universal rule, however, was that no one found their soulmate before the age of twenty one. The binding of souls is physically demanding and connecting two people at such a young age could be potentially problematic. It was unheard of and virtually impossible to connect to your soulmate before twenty one. Until now.Sammy Reid was a regular teenage girl who just graduated from high school in the middle of nowhere, Texas. She received the one thing she wanted most as a graduation gift: tickets to see Stray Kids. Little did she know, her entire life was about to flipped upside down with one visit to the mall.*I also post this story on Amino and Wattpad!!! Here's the link to my blog with the first three chapters: https://aminoapps.com/c/straykids/page/blog/bound-at-first-sight/ozZ7_vxHdum3rDjBbo5wDvxogdKNaW63oAnd here's the link to wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/779033591-bound-at-first-sight-chapter-1





	1. Chapter 1

“Sammy! Are you ready to go?” I hear my cousin (that just so happens to be my best friend) yell as I quickly stuff my Stray Kids light stick in my bag. I look around my room, making sure I had all of my portable chargers and my earbuds.  
“Coming!” I shout back as I grab my bag and head out the door. Violet and I had been planning this weekend for four months, and we made sure everything would be perfect. 

It was around 4pm when we arrived at the hotel. Violet and I jumped onto the bed, both of us shaking with excitement. We had only just arrived, but we knew that we would soon be caught up in the middle of the best night of our lives. Judging by the time, the concert in LA was about to start. Both Violet and I opened up Vapp and scrolled on the Stray Kids fanboard, lurking for a while before I decided to start posting. We spent the next half hour laying on the hotel bed talking with other Stay. Occasionally, one of us would let out an unholy squeal from the depths when we got too excited for the concert that was to take place in 48 hours.  
“We’re going to the mall tomorrow right? What time?” Violet asked, looking up from her phone.  
“Hmmm… 10? Or 11? They probably won’t go too early because of their flight and they need sleep too,” I respond, smiling at the thought of possibly meeting the nine boys that stole my heart. Almost every famous person goes to this mall when they come, and we decided to spend the day before the concert there just in case Stray Kids decided to go too. Monsta X was there and Violet’s grandmother who works at the mall saw them. We just about died when we knew we could have totally been there, and we were not about to make the same mistake with Stray Kids.  
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably not going to be able to sleep tonight,” my cousin said, excitedly.  
“Gurrrrlllll neither will I. What if we don’t see them? What if they just ignore us? I’d really like to give them this journal I made…” I began vocalizing all of my concerns about the next day.  
“Hey, that’s tomorrow. Let’s go to the pool. Maybe it’ll calm us down and wear us out so we actually get some sleep.” Violet suggested, and we change into our swimsuits and go to the indoor pool. It was empty, luckily. Violet and I were being giant crackheads. We reenacted that one video of Seventeen jumping into the pool, and were loud as hell. Almost two hours had passed, and my mom called me.  
“You girls having fun? Are y’all getting hungry?” she asked.  
“Yes and yes. Let me ask Vi what she wants” I respond, turning to my cousin.  
“Violet! What do you want to eat?”  
“Something healthy. We didn’t spend the past 4 months working on these bodies to gain the weight back the night before” she said while doing a bunch of model poses, trying (and failing) to imitate Hyungwon. I laughed at her and told my mom that we wanted to go pick up a Cobb salad from Chick Fil A. We dried off and went back upstairs to get changed. I threw on a t-shirt and black tights, sighing as my thighs jiggled more than I’d like them to.  
“I know that sigh. We're not going to have any of that nonsense this weekend. We're seeing Stray Kids, remember?!??!? Come on, let's go eat,” Violet says, shaking me out of my self conscious thoughts.  
“You're right, thanks Vi. I'm starving!” We then skipped down the hall to the (h)elevator, with my mom following behind us. Once in the car, I connected my phone to the Bluetooth and started playing ‘’Rock’’. It's one of the older songs, but never fails to hype us up.

When we get back to the hotel, we finished eating and went to take our showers and get ready to attempt to go to sleep. It wasn't until 3am that I finally started drifting off. Not 30 minutes later, I woke up to a strange, warm, yet painful sensation in my chest. It was like the pins and needles feeling when your foot falls asleep. It lasted for a few minutes,and then stopped. I had no clue what it was but I suddenly felt exhausted, and fell right back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammy meets Felix

The next morning, I thought the tingles were just part of my dream so I brushed it off. I turned to look at my cousin to see if she was still asleep, but Violet was already awake and half way dressed.

“Bro I thought you died! You never sleep that hard, ever! Hurry up and get dressed, we gotta go!” My usually lazy cousin exclaimed. I checked my phone for the time and it was 9:45am already, and the hotel stopped serving breakfast at 10.

“Go down to breakfast without me! Bring me back a banana or something and I'll hurry up” I said, jumping out of bed. Violet did as I asked, and I rummaged through my suitcase for the day’s outfit. It was a Coca Cola shirt that I cut myself, with slits running down both sides underneath my arms. It was also cropped, but it was long enough that my stomach only showed when I raised my arms up. Along with it, I wore some black high waisted shorts with large fishnets underneath. To top it all off, I zipped up my black combat boots. Violet came back into the room a little after 10, handing me an apple.

“It's all they had left. You almost ready?” She asked.

“Yeah I just gotta do hair and makeup then I'm done” I replied, grabbing my makeup and walking into the bathroom. She sighed and sat down on the bed, grabbing her phone. She didn't like wearing makeup or doing anything special with her hair. I didn't like doing it either until a few months ago. My friends took me makeup shopping and taught me the basics, and I really enjoyed it. I just did a natural eye look with red lipstick that matched my shirt. I stood in the bathroom checking myself out for a little while, trying to gas myself up and rid my mind of any insecurities. Violet noticed and walked into the bathroom to comfort me and came in there with my, and We began to compliment each other for a hot minute before my mom came in and asked if we were ready. We both nodded and I grabbed my little backpack as we headed out the door.

"Where do you wanna go first?" Violet asked me as we walked into the main entrance.

"We should make our usual rounds, Box Lunch, Hot Topic, and then go get lunch" I replied, already turning towards the part of the mall we usually stayed in. Violet nodded and followed me. A few hours passed, and we went down to the food court to get lunch. That same tingly feeling in my chest came back, and my heart started to beat a little faster. I thought I was just freaking out at the thought of meeting Stray Kids, so I just brushed it off.

While we were waiting in line at the China Max, we overheard some other girls talking.

"Can you believe it!!! Chan walked right past us!!!" One of them exclaimed. Violet and I immediately turned to find who said it, but they had already walked away.

"Violet, they’re HERE!" I shrieked, unable to contain my inner Stay. My breathing became faster and the tingly sensation grew stronger deep within my chest. We both squealed like pterodactyls and turned a few heads, but we didn’t care.

"After we eat, let's go to my grandma's store. Monsta X went there so they might too" Violet told me after we sat down. I nodded in agreement and shoveled a spoonful of rice in my mouth.

Violet’s grandma worked at the Neiman Marcus, all the way across the mall. We walked slowly, staying alert just in case we saw the members anywhere else in the wild. We didn't see or hear anyone else talking about the members the whole way there, and began to think they might have left. The feeling in my chest grew more intense, and started flooding into my stomach. I began feeling a little lightheaded as well, but I didn’t want to say anything that would make my cousin worry. If I did, we might have lost our last chance at meeting my favorite nine dorks. I almost lost balance and collapsed as Violet led the way to her grandma's makeup station.

"Violet! Sammy! How good to see you girls. I bet you are curious about those Asian boys you talk about all the time. No?’’ Her grandma inquired. We both nodded vigorously and I grabbed my phone to show her a picture of Stray Kids.

"Oh,I saw those three come in not too long ago" Violet's grandma had said, pointing to Felix Changbin, and Hyunjin. Despite my fuzzy head and the strange feeling coursing throughout my entire body, I Mario jumped and hugged Violet, who quickly shoved me off.

“You know I don’t like hugs! And we don’t have time! Let’s go!” she said, quickly spitting out the words almost as fast as Changbin. We both said goodbye to her grandma, and made our way further into the store. We looked at the items as we passed, but we both knew a single t-shirt from that store was worth more than our lives combined. My vision started blurring the further back we walked, and the tingling sensation warmed my whole body. I felt like there was a bonfire inside me. And then I heard it. His voice. I looked around frantically and then I saw him. It was like time had froze, and I was paralized, just like a deer in headlights. I don’t know how long I stood there but it felt like an eternity. Violet broke me out of my trance by shaking my arm like a ragdoll.

“They’re! Right! Freaking! T h e r e!!!!!” she whisper yelled, trying not to be too loud. She failed. Changbin overheard her panicked squeals and turned around. He pointed us out to Felix and Hyunjin, and all three of them waved at us. I think. All I could see was Felix’s radiant smile. The tingling sensation became a raging forest fire inside me. I felt as though I was going to have a literal heart attack, and I couldn’t move. Violet shook my arm and called my name, but I couldn’t hear her. My eyes were locked on Felix’s, and he returned the gaze just as intensely. Changbin gave Felix a hard shove, and he started moving towards me like a moth drawn to a flame. The burning in my chest grew more intense with every step he took.The fire within me was now a volcano. Violet copied Changbin and shoved me towards Felix’s direction. Once my legs started moving, they could not stop. We met in the middle. Felix reached his hand out to grab my wrist. Then everything descended into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

The manager made arrangements for me and Felix to have a room on the same floor as the rest of the boys. Unfortunately, he didn’t let Violet come with me. He said she could come with me to the venue and upgrade her tickets to P1, however. My mom dropped Felix and I off at Stray Kids’s hotel, and we went up to the 9th floor (lol, how ironic). We went to the manager’s room, and he gave us our key cards.

We walked down the hall to our room, where there was a surprise waiting for us. The remaining 8 members of Stray Kids were sprawled across the two full sized beds, on the floor, and in the chairs. They all looked up when we came in, all of them wanting to see the girl that was to become part of their family. I was a little startled, and just stood in the doorway with my eyes wide open.

“You’re scaring her” Felix said, his deep voice bouncing off the walls of the silent room. I shook my head and stepped into the room, setting my bag against the wall.

“It’s fine, I’m sure they have a lot of questions” I replied, looking at all of them. God, they’re even more beautiful in real life, I thought, as a blush rose to my cheeks. I knew they would want to get to know me, but I figured they’d at least give me time with Felix before bombarding me all at once.

“First, can you both explain exactly what happened?” Chan asked, looking between Felix and I.

“I was hoping Changbin and Hyunjin would be able to answer that, my memory is a little fuzzy… I remember how it felt more than what actually happened.” I said, crossing my legs to sit on the floor. Felix nodded in agreement, sitting down next to me.

“I don’t really remember much either. The feeling was intense though. It was like being in the heart of a star,’ Felix added. Changbin and Hyunjin began explaining what they saw, and Felix and I would cut in to explain how it felt on our end. Every once in a while, Chan would translate for me so I knew what they were saying and vice versa. My nerves began to subside and I got more comfortable with them as the minutes ticked by. After everyone was on the same page with the day’s events, the boys wanted to learn more about me.

“Let’s start with the basics, name, age, birthday, hometown, etc.,” Chan said in his Australian accent that melted my heart. I nodded and said,

“I’m Samantha Ried, but you can call me Sam or Sammy. My birthday is February 11th, three days after I.N’s. I’m from a small town in Texas, and I’ve lived there my whole life.” Chan took a second to translate everything to the members that didn’t speak English fluently. Jeongin almost fell off the bed trying to give me a high five of approval when Chan said my birthday.

“Looks like we have a new maknae” Felix joked, nudging me with his shoulder.

“By three days!!!” I exclaimed while the members chuckled.

“Ahhhh so cute!” Woojin said, smiling brightly. I actually UwU ed out lound because of his English.

“I might be younger than all of you, but I still want to put you in my pocket and protect you from all the bad things in the world,” I told them, looking around the room at the boys I had idolized the last two years. The minutes turned to hours, and dinner time was nearing. Chan suggested we order some food, and the 8 starving boys strongly agreed. He and Woojin went to go get the company card while the rest of the members looked at the room service menu.

“If you don’t see anything you like we can order food from Uber Eats or Grubhub” I informed the boys, and Felix translated. I downloaded the app on my phone and gave it to them to look through. We ended up ordering from a few different fast food places on Uber Eats. The bill was massive, but Chan told me that it was nothing compared to what they spend at actual restaurants. When the food started arriving, Seungmin Hyunjin, and Jisung went down to get it. While they were gone, we rearranged the furniture so we could all sit on the floor together. After everyone got their food, we sat in a misshapen circle and the room was awkwardly silent. I heard a “caw caw caw” come from Jeongin, and Jisung asked

“Why isn’t anyone talking?” All ten of us giggled a little bit, and then their attention turned back to me. It seemed like they wanted to know my whole life story in one day, but I didn’t really mind.

“What is your… favorite animal?” Hyunjin questioned, cocking his head to the side like a little puppy. I took a second to UwU before answering him.

“All of them! I want to be a zoologist or a vet. I have two snakes and three, wait, no, two… dogs. One passed away last month to cancer,” I said, trailing off at the end of my sentence. I heard a few ‘im sorry’s’ flow through the room after Chan translated.

“Photo? Can we… see photo?” Minho asked, trying his best. My heart almost exploded because hes sO CUTE and then I nodded and took out my phone, opening my animal gallery to show them pictures. A few more hours passed like this, and soon enough it was almost 1am.

“It’s getting late, y’all should head to bed. The concert is tomorrow!” I suggested. Chan agreed, and the 8 boys filed out of Felix and my room.

____________________________________________________________________

“You can shower first” Felix said, turning to me after they left. I nodded and plugged my phone in, then grabbed backpack before entering the bathroom. I didn’t want to keep Felix up too late, so I didn’t blow dry my hair.

“Your turn,” I said, taking my phone off the charger and sitting on the chair. He got up and shuffled into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. When he came out, he sat on his bed and we shared a few moments of awkward silence.

“This is a little strange, isn’t it” he asked quietly, looking over at me.

“You have no idea” I responded, nodding.

“I’m just proud of myself for not completely flipping out around you or any of the other members.” Felix laughed and then turned to me, a serious look on his face.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you this… Who is your bias?” I couldn’t contain my laughter and I rolled out of the chair, trying desperately not to snort. It took me a second to calm down before saying,

“I don’t have one. Its weird, really, because I have a bias or two in every group besides Stray Kids. I just love all nine of you too much to have a bias.”

“Sureeeee” Felix said, rolling his eyes.

“I’m serious! You can look through my camera roll and decide for yourself!” I retorted, opening my Stray Kids folder and giving him my phone.

“I have about two thousand pictures so it might take you a while.”

“Two thousand????” Felix said, looking at me in disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal for a Stay without a bias. Some people have more, some have less,” I responded. I moved to sit next to him to make sure he didn’t come across anything he didn’t need to see. Sometimes I accidentally placed a picture in the wrong folder so you never knew if a wild shirtless Jackson Wang will appear in my gallery. I generally knew the order of the photos, however. When Felix scrolled down to the part of the folder that had predebut pictures, I quickly snatched my phone out of his hand.

“Why’d you do that?” He asked, giving me a strange look.

“I don’t want you to think I’m weird or anything… We just met today and exploring a kpop stan’s gallery is quite dangerous sometimes.”

“You’re just making me more curious, I hope you know that”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes!!!!” “

It’s just predebut pictures… I didn’t think you wanted to see those” I giggled nervously, holding my phone to my chest.

“You’re right, I don’t want to” Felix laughed, his curiosity dissipating.

“I have one more question before we go to sleep. What is your lock screen and wallpaper?” I turned on my screen, showing him a photo of Got7. I then unlocked my phone to show him my wallpaper, an edit I made from screenshots of the M.I.A music video, all of which were group shots. Felix let out a dejected sounding sigh, and threw himself back on the bed.

“What? Were you hoping to be my wallpaper?” I asked, turning to look at him.

“A little” he said under his breath. I laughed softly and opened my camera, tossing my phone over to him.

“Take some selcas and choose one to set as my wallpaper. I don’t feel like scrolling through to choose one.” Felix smiled brightly and sat up, snapping pictures at many different angles.

“I have Snapchat if you want to use filters,” I said, yawning. “Just put my phone back on the charger when you’re done. I’m going to get some sleep. Goodnight Felix”

“Goodnight Sam” Felix said in his deep Aussie accent. I got up and moved to my bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4

The manager made arrangements for me and Felix to have a room on the same floor as the rest of the boys. Unfortunately, he didn’t let Violet come with me. He said she could come with me to the venue to wait before the concert started, however. My mom dropped Felix and I off at Stray Kids’s hotel, and we went up to the 9th floor (lol, how ironic). We followed the manager to his room, and he gave us our key cards.

We walked down the hall to our room, where there was a surprise waiting for us. The remaining 8 members of Stray Kids were sprawled across the two full sized beds, on the floor, and in the chairs. They all looked up when we came in, all of them wanting to see the girl that was to become part of their family. I was a little startled, and just stood in the doorway with my eyes wide open.

“You’re scaring her” Felix said, his deep voice bouncing off the walls of the silent room. I shook my head and stepped into the room, setting my bag against the wall.

“It’s fine, I’m sure they have a lot of questions” I replied, looking at all of them.  _ God, they’re even more beautiful in real life _ , I thought, as a blush rose to my cheeks. I knew they would want to get to know me, but I figured they’d at least give me time with Felix before bombarding me all at once. 

“First, can you both explain exactly what happened?” Chan asked, looking between Felix and I.

“I was hoping Changbin and Hyunjin would be able to answer that, my memory is a little fuzzy… I remember how it felt more than what actually happened.” I said, crossing my legs to sit on the floor. Felix nodded in agreement, sitting down next to me.

“I don’t really remember much either. The feeling was intense though. It was like being in the heart of a star,’ Felix added. Changbin and Hyunjin began explaining what they saw, and Felix and I would cut in to explain how it felt on our end. Every once in a while, Chan would translate for me so I knew what they were saying and vice versa. My nerves began to subside and I got more comfortable with them as the minutes ticked by. After everyone was on the same page with the day’s events, the boys wanted to learn more about me.

“Let’s start with the basics, name, age, birthday, hometown, etc.,” Chan said in his Australian accent that melted my soul.

I nodded and said, “I’m Samantha Ried, but you can call me Sam or Sammy. My birthday is February 11th, three days after I.N’s. I’m from a small town in Texas, and I’ve lived there my whole life.” Chan took a second to translate everything to the members that didn’t speak English fluently. Jeongin almost fell off the bed trying to give me a high five of approval when Chan said my birthday.

“Looks like we have a new maknae” Felix joked, nudging me with his shoulder.

“By three days!!!” I exclaimed while the members chuckled.

“Ahhhh so cute!” Woojin said, smiling brightly.

“I might be younger than all of you, but I still want to put you in my pocket and protect you from all the bad things in the world,” I told them, looking around the room at the boys I had idolized the last year and a few months.

The minutes turned to hours, and dinner time was nearing. Chan suggested we order some food, and the 8 starving boys strongly agreed. He and Woojin went to go get the company card while the rest of the members looked at the room service menu.

“If you don’t see anything you like we can order food from Uber Eats or Grubhub” I informed the boys, and Felix translated. I downloaded the app on my phone and gave it to them to look through. We ended up ordering from a few different fast food places on Uber Eats. The bill was massive, but Chan told me that it was nothing compared to what they spend at actual restaurants. When the food started arriving, Seungmin Hyunjin, and Jisung went down to get it. While they were gone, we rearranged the furniture so we could all sit on the floor together. After everyone got their food, we sat in a misshapen circle and the room was awkwardly silent.

I heard a “caw caw caw” come from Jeongin, and Jisung asked “Why isn’t anyone talking?” 

All ten of us giggled a little bit, and then their attention turned back to me. It seemed like they wanted to know my whole life story in one day, but I didn’t really mind. 

“What is your… favorite animal?” Hyunjin questioned in his adorable English. I took a second to UwU before answering him.

“All of them! I want to be a zoologist or a vet. I have two snakes and three, wait, no, two… dogs. One passed away last month to cancer,” I said, trailing off at the end of my sentence. I heard a few ‘i'm sorry's’ flow through the room after CHan translated.

“Photo? Can we… see photo?” Minho asked, trying his best. My heart almost exploded because he's sO CUTE and then I nodded and took out my phone, opening my animal gallery to show them pictures. A few more hours passed like this, and soon enough it was almost 1am. 

“It’s getting late, y’all should head to bed. The concert is tomorrow!” I suggested. Chan agreed, and the 8 boys filed out of Felix and my room. 

  
  


“You can shower first” Felix said, turning to me after they left. I nodded and plugged my phone in, then grabbed backpack before entering the bathroom. I didn’t want to keep Felix up too late, so I didn’t blow dry my hair.

“Your turn,” I said, taking my phone off the charger and sitting on the chair. He got up and shuffled into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. When he came out, he sat on his bed and we shared a few moments of awkward silence.

“This is a little strange, isn’t it” he asked quietly, looking over at me.

“You have no idea” I responded, nodding. “I’m just proud of myself for not completely flipping out around you or any of the other members.”

Felix laughed and then turned to me, a serious look on his face. “I’ve been wanting to ask you this… Who is your bias?”

I couldn’t contain my laughter and I rolled out of the chair, trying desperately not to snort. It took me a second to calm down before saying, “I don’t have one. Its weird, really, because I have a bias or two in every group besides Stray Kids. I just love all nine of you too much to have a bias.”

“Sureeeee” Felix said, rolling his eyes.

“I’m serious! You can look through my camera roll and decide for yourself!” I retorted, opening my Stray Kids folder and giving him my phone. “I have about two thousand pictures so it might take you a while.”

“Two thousand????” Felix said, looking at me in disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal for a Stay without a bias. Some people have more, some have less,” I responded. I moved to sit next to him to make sure he didn’t come across anything he didn’t need to see. Sometimes I accidentally placed a picture in the wrong folder so you never knew if a wild shirtless Jackson Wang will appear in my gallery. I generally knew the order of the photos, however. When Felix scrolled down to the part of the folder that had predebut pictures, I quickly snatched my phone out of his hand.

“Why’d you do that?” He asked, giving me a strange look.

“I don’t want you to think I’m weird or anything… We just met today and exploring a kpop stan’s gallery is quite dangerous sometimes.”

“You’re just making me more curious, I hope you know that”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes!!!!”

“It’s just predebut pictures… I didn’t think you wanted to see those” I giggled nervously, holding my phone to my chest.

“You’re right, I don’t want to” Felix laughed, his curiosity dissipating. “I have one more question before we go to sleep. What is your lock screen and wallpaper?”

I turned on my screen, showing him a photo of Got7. I then unlocked my phone to show him my wallpaper, an edit I made from screenshots of the M.I.A music video, all of which were group shots. Felix let out a dejected sounding sigh, and threw himself back on the bed.

“What? Were you hoping to be my wallpaper?” I asked, turning to look at him.

“A little” he said under his breath. I laughed softly and opened my camera, tossing my phone over to him. 

“Take some selcas and choose one to set as my wallpaper. I don’t feel like scrolling through to choose one.” Felix smiled brightly and sat up, snapping pictures at many different angles. “I have Snapchat if you want to use filters,” I said, yawning. “Just put my phone back on the charger when you’re done. I’m going to get some sleep. Goodnight Felix”

“Goodnight Sam” Felix said in his deep Aussie accent. I got up and moved to my bed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We really posting two chapters in one night!!!   
> This chapter took me a while to get right. I hope y'all like it!!!
> 
> Also  
> That chapters will be getting longer from here on! I have more to write about after the beginning. It should be getting better!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

I woke up to loud knocking on the door, and someone yelling on the other side of it.

“Felix! Sammy! Come on we have to go!” Chan yelled, continuously knocking on the door. Both Felix and I slept through every alarm we set. Felix jumped out of his bed and ran to the door. Chan’s eyes flew wide when he saw that we had only just woken up. “You both better hurry! We need to get to the venue!”

“Five minutes. I’m so sorry! We didn’t hear any of the alarms,” Felix said, pushing the door shut and rushing back to his bag. “ You can take the bathroom first. I’ll change out here, just yell or something before you come out to give me a warning”

I just nodded and grabbed my backpack, closing the bathroom door behind me. I had never gotten dressed so fast in my life. I didn’t want the members to be late because of me.

“Felix i’m ready!” I yelled before opening the bathroom door.

“Ökay, me too. I just need to use the restroom and then we can go,” he said as I moved to return my bag to its place on the floor. I grabbed my small backpack and made sure I had my portable chargers and everything I would need for the day. Felix and I rushed out the door a little more than five minutes after Chan woke us up.

  
  


We arrived at the Revention Center at 11:30 am in order to practice and prepare for the show later that evening. Felix and I were not nearly as enthusiastic as the other members, due to our rushed morning. We hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. I was normally not a morning person. At all. But like who can be in a bad mood when their surrounded by nine suns??? Despite my rumbling stomach and eyes that did not want to stay open, I managed to keep a smile on my face as the members greeted me. I still felt like I was in a dream. Like Felix wasn’t actually my soulmate, and I would wake up at any moment and everything would disappear. I didn’t realize I zoned out until I felt Felix’s hand on my elbow, guiding me to the green room. The manager entered not long after we did, and came to talk with Felix and I.

“We need to see where Samantha will stay during the concert. We don’t know what will happen if you two are too far apart, and we don’t need an accident on stage.” he says to us. We go out onto the stage and the manager tells us to walk to opposite sides. Felix walks to the right end as I move toward the left. The further we get from each other, the harder it is to walk. I can feel my heart rate slow and my breathing becomes labored. I turned around to see Felix suffering the same effects as I am.

Ökay, so we might need to do something a little difficult. There is a crawl space below the stage. Do you think you would be okay down there the whole time?” the manager asks. I sigh and looked down at the stage.

“I’ll be fine, but i was hoping to actually see the concert… I did pay for tickets and I’m supposed to go with… Violet!!!”I exclaimed, grabbing my phone out of my back pocket. I hadn’t checked it at all that day, and thought she would be freaking out. I was right. I had 13 missed calls and even more texts. Our original plan was to be in line at the venue by noon, but that was before we found out about the whole soulmate thing. We have P3 tickets, and wanted to be near the front.

“Can my cousin come stay with us until the concert starts? She can go to her section when it’s time but I don't want her waiting in line for hours by herself. I’m responsible for her this weekend, and it's my job to make sure she’s safe” I said, turning to the manager. He agreed to it, and I call Violet right away.

“Bro what took you so long?!?!?!” Violet exclaimed after she answered.

“Sorry, we woke up late and got really busy”

Ïts fine. So what’s the plan?” she asked me.

“The manager said you could come hang inside the center with me until the concert starts. You’ll have to watch it yourself though. I’ll explain when you get here. Get ready to go and I’ll call my mom and tell her where to drop you off”’ I said before hanging up. Not long after ending the conversation with her, I called my mom. I explained the plan for the day to her, and told her to drop Violet off at one of the side entrances where I would be waiting to let her in. My mother agreed, and Violet showed up at the entrance thirty minutes later.

“I feel like I’m doing something illegal” Violet whispered after I closed the door behind her, turning to face the empty hallway in front of us.

“Why are you whispering like that idiot,” I replied at full volume.

“It’s so quiet! It feels weird. Hello Felix, by the way,” my cousin said, still whispering.

“It’s nice to meet you again! And we’re not doing anything illegal,” Felix assured my cousin. We continued down the hall and to the green room, but Violet stopped a few feet from the door.

“I’m going to need a hot minute before walking into a room with all of the Stray Kids members,” she said, her hands shaking as she drew in a deep breath. I put both of my hands on her shoulders before saying,

“I give you strength, young padawan.”

Violet let out a nervous giggle and took one more deep breath before following Felix and I through the door. It was surprisingly quiet for a room of 8 boys plus a few staff members. Chan, Woojin and Jeongin were sitting on the couch watching Dragon Ball. Jisung was passed clean out on one of the mats on the floor, while Minho was a few feet away playing on his phone. Hyunjin was in front of a mirror, taking some selcas. Changbin had his headphones plugged in and looked lost in his own world, while Seungmin played Mario Kart on the Switch by himself. Violet grabbed my wrist so tight i thought my soulmate mark would disappear.

“Jisung looks so freaking cute when he sleeps, I think I’m going to combust” she whispered in my ear. When I turned to look at her, her face was fire engine red and she had tears brimming her eyes. I chuckled softly and lead her over to Seungmin.

“Hey Seungmin, mind if we join you?” I asked the bare faced idol.

“Sure! Felix the extra controllers are in the case on the couch,” Suengmin replied, looking over to us with a smile. I sat down next to him, pulling Violet down with me.

“This is Violet, my cousin. I don’t think she was properly introduced with yesterday’s insanity. She’s a little nervous, if you can’t tell. She’s been a Stay almost as long as I have and this is overwhelming,” I said, scooting back a little bit so he could look at her.

“It’s good to meet you!” he replied, giving her a small bow.

The rest of the time before the concert continued like this. I introduced Violet to all of the members, and we just hung out until the boys had to go practice on stage. We watched the makeup artists do their makeup, and were in awe of their skills. The hours ticked down one by one, and 7pm approached much more quickly than we thought it would. One of the staff led Violet to the P3 standing area, and the members began putting on their in-ears. 

“I’m so sorry you won’t get to see us perform today,” Felix said as he put the box connected to his earpiece in his back pocket.

“It’s okay, I’ll get to see every one of your performances from now on,” I replied, a soft smile forming on my face at the thought.

“You’re right!” Felix exclaimed, “I still haven’t had time to absorb the whole soulmate thing.”

“Trust me, neither have I.”

Felix gave me a smile and patted my shoulder before another staff member came over to me. He had sound cancelling ear muffs and ice packs.

“You’ll need these,” he said, turning and walking away. It was time for us to get in positions. Felix and I followed the rest of the members to the section under the stage. They were going to rise onto the stage on a platform, while I stayed underneath. The boys did their cheer, and the intro music started playing. I put on the sound cancelling ear muffs and went to my first position, marked by a piece of tape. I had to move around a lot, because of the choreography as well as trips backstage to change outfits.

Throughout the concert, I could hear Stay screaming through my ear muffs. I couldn’t help but smile. I could feel the love radiating from the fans and the members, even if I wasn’t physically with them. In that moment, under the stage, I decided that I would do anything to protect Stray Kids. The members, the staff, and the fans are family. I had been part of if for almost two years already, but my position in the family was changing more than I ever thought it would. Chan has protected Stray Kids this far, but one of his members finding their soulmate was something that could not be expected. I needed to be ready to do my part in ensuring that Stray Kids would always be nine. 

As the concert came to a close, I slowly made my way to the stairs. Felix was walking directly above me, waving to Stay with a bright smile on his face. We met in the area right off stage, and joined the rest of the members. The smiles on all of the member’s faces were indescribable. Sweat was pouring down their faces, but they still kept smiling. Performing for Stay made them happier than anything else.

“Are you okay Sam? I know the air conditioning was off the whole time, it must have been hot,” Felix asked as we walked back to the green room.

“They brought me a fan and I had a lot of ice packs. I’m just glad the performance went smoothly,” I responded, dabbing sweat from my forehead. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Violet’s name on my screen. 

“Hey Vi, how was the concert?”

“AMAZING!!!!” she screeched so loud that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “But how am I leaving? Is your mom getting me?”

“She should be. Call her. If she hadn't left the hotel you can come sit and wait in the green room with us,” I said, answering her question. She hung up so she could call my mom and I sank down into one of the couches in the green room. The boys were physically exhausted, but the show gave them energy. They only had a few minutes to cool down, let the makeup artists do some touching up, and change their clothes before the hi-touch and photo op. A staff member came and gave me a black shirt, mask, and baseball hat to put on. I needed to pretend to be a staff member during the fan events. I felt my phone vibrate again and saw a text message from Violet.

Bestest Cousin Vi:  _ Your mom got me, we’re heading back to the hotel _

Me:  _ Ok good. Fan events are about to start. Text when it’s over _

I put my phone on silent and looked up to see Felix walking back over to me.

“Are you ready to meet Houston Stay?” I asked him.

“I’m always ready to meet Stay! But I’m also ready for a nap,” he yawned, stretching his arms. 

“Stop that! It’s contagious,” I said as I yawned, covering my mouth with one hand. Felix laughed softly, smiling at me. The manager opened the door to the green room and told the boys it was time to go. I put on the mask and followed them down the hall, to the room for the hi-touch. Stay began waving vigorously while yelling their bais’s names. I watched as the members high fived their fans, one by one. I couldn’t see their faces, but I knew their bright smiles never faded. A few Stays were crying, and others were in various stages of shock. I couldn’t help but smile behind my mask. I would react the exact same way, if Felix wasn’t my soulmate. I adored seeing the boys with their fans, and I knew it was what they loved too. Despite their exhaustion, the ride back to the hotel was full of chatter. 

` “You can shower first, Lix. You look like you’re going to fall asleep standing up,” I said to Felix after we got back to the hotel. He just nodded slowly and gathered his things to shower. I sat in the chair and plugged my phone in. Violet already made a Google Photos folder with all of her pictures and videos from the show, and sent them to me. I looked through them, a smile on my face. 

“Goodnight Sam,” Felix said before crawling into his bed and falling asleep. When I got out of my shower, I could hear him snoring lightly. I looked at him, admiring his bare face and freckles.  _ I could get used to this, _ I thought. I had no idea what tomorrow would hold, but I was ready to face it as long as I had Felix and the rest of Stray Kids by my side.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's been a hot minute since my last update. This chapter took me a little while to write. I hope y'all like it!

This time, we woke up to Felix’s alarm. He made sure he set it yesterday morning, so he wouldn’t forget. 

“Good morning Felix! Do you know what the plan for the near future is?” I questioned, after we both had a minute to wake up. He ran a hand through his messy bed hair and unlocked his phone.

“I just got a text from our manager. He said we’re staying in Houston for another day so you can pack. Our flight leaves tomorrow evening at 9pm,” he replied, laying back down. 

“Can my mom come pick us up or does the manager need to come with you or something?” I asked, not knowing what the rules were for idols in foregin countries.

“Let me call him,” Felix said, picking up his phone again. A few minutes later, we got permission to leave with my mom. I called her and she agreed to pick us up as soon as she could get Violet moving. She was still passed out. 

“Mom, put the phone to Violet’s ear. I have something that will wake her up,” I said, a wide grin spreading across my face. “Felix, come wake up my cousin,” I requested.

“Wh-what should I say?” he replied, laughing a little bit.

“Remember on that one varitey show… wakey wakey,” I said, laughing so hard I almost fell off my bed. Felix did not find it as amusing.

“Sometimes I don’t like that you’re a Stay,” he said jokingly, but he still took my phone. “Wakey wakey” he said into the microphone, before cringing. That was all it took for Violet, however. I heard her voice on the phone.

“Was that Sammy’s idea?” she asked groggily.

“It was, but it worked,” Felix laughed. He passed the phone over to me.

“Good morning sunshine! You need to get ready to go so y’all can come get me and Felix. I need to pack my stuff to go to Korea,” I reminded my cousin.

“Okay, give me like 10 minutes. Text your mom the address of your hotel and we’ll be there soon,” she said, hanging up the phone. I sent my mom the address and stretched back out on the bed.

“What do you think the rest of the boys will do today? If they don’t have ideas I know a bunch of great places to visit around here,” I asked Felix.

“I’m not sure. I can text them,” he replied. I got out of bed and grabbed my backpack, walking into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I wore black athletic leggings (with pockets!) and an oversized dark blue t-shirt. I put on light makeup and walked out of the bathroom. 

“Every single time I leave this room and come back, there are more people in it,” I said after I saw Chan, Woojin, Changbin, and Jisung sitting on Felix’s bed. Chan just chuckled, nodding.

“We have no plans for today and know little to nothing about Houston. What do you suggest?” Chan asked, looking at me.

“Well, that depends on what you’re in the mood for. And what section of the city you want to go to. If you want to stay downtown, I’d suggest the zoo, the aquarium, or the museum district. There’s also the Japanses gardens, the waterwall, there’s a few Escape Rooms… and a million more things,” I responded, thinking about everything the boys might want to do.

“We want to do something relaxing, without a lot of people,” Chan said, hoping to narrow the amount of options.

“It is a Monday, and most people haven’t gotten out of school yet. I’m so lucky I went to a private school. My graduation was last week. All of the Houston school districts don’t get out for another week I think. So most everything will be pretty empty.” I informed them. Chan spent a second translating for the other members, and asked if they liked any of those ideas. While they were discussing, there was a knock on the door. Felix got up to open it, and the rest of the members filed into the room. Chan told them about all of the options, then asked me if there was anything else.

“If y’all want to go to my side of town, there is a park on the beach. It’s also on Main Street where there’s a bunch of resale shops and antique shops. There’s also a battleship museum, and a monument. Or if y’all want to go to another mall, there’s a smaller one by my house. Or if you’re in the mood for rides, there’s Kemah. It’s kinda far from here though,” I added, thinking of all the possible things they could do. Chan translated all of the options and discussed with his members. They were split between two places. Some wanted to go ride rides at Kemah and the others wanted to go to the zoo.

“How about y’all go to the zoo while I stay home and pack, and then all of us can go to Kemah tomorrow? Our flight doesn’t leave until 9pm,” I suggested. I wanted everyone to enjoy their time here, because I didn’t know when all nine of them would be back in Houston. Chan translated my suggestion and everyone agreed. After the plan of action was decided, the members returned to their rooms to get ready for the day.

“Hey Felix, I have a question,” I said, crossing my legs on my bed.

“Yeah?”

“Can we stay at my house tonight? It’ll be my last chance to sleep in my house for who knows how long…” I questioned, looking at the floor.

“Yeah! Of course. I’ll text my manager and let him know,” Felix replied, with a soft smile on his face.

“Thanks, Felix. You’re the best,” I replied, looking up at him. Out of nowhere, “Victory Song” began to play. After a moment of confusion from both of us, I remembered that I set the song as my ringtone. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and looked to see who was calling.

“Hi Mom, are you on the close?” I asked after i picked up.

“Yes I’m about five minutes away. Be ready,” she said.

“We will be. See you in a minute,” I said before hanging up.

“We have five minutes before my mom gets here,” I told Felix. He hadn’t even changed out of his pajamas, and we both still had to pack. Panic ensued as I rushed to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind and Felix grabbed whatever was on the top of his suitcase and ran into the bathroom. After I was sure nothing would be left behind, Felix came out of the bathroom. In the two minutes he had left my line of sight, I somehow forgotten how attractive he is. I was about to tell him something, but my mouth just hung open. Felix wore black jeans with a white button down shirt. He didn’t style his hair, and his face was bare. He looked absolutely stunning. I didn’t realize I was staring until he started talking.

“Sammy? Are you okay?” he asked, a smile forming on his lips.

“Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. Let’s head downstairs,” I said, shaking myself out of my trance.  _ He’s so damn beautiful I don’t know how I’m going to survive, _ I thought. The walk down the hall and the elevator ride was awkwardly silent. I hoped that the awkwardness between us would fade with time, but for now, it was deafening. My mom called right when we stepped out of the elevator, telling me she was there. We left the hotel and saw my mom’s car waiting in the parking lot. She opened the back hatch when she saw us approaching, and we put our bags in the back.

“Good morning, wonderful mother and amazing cousin,” I said, grinning at my family. “Violet! Quick do the thing before she turns it off!” I say quickly, turning on my phone’s bluetooth. Violet transfers the connected phone on the car from my mom’s to mine.

“Success!” My cousin shouts. My mom just lets out an exasperated sigh.  _ We must have completely worn her out this weekend _ , I thought.

“What are you in the mood for?” I asked Violet.

“I’m kinda in a DPR mood today,” Violet responded. I scrolled through my music library and started Playing “Text Me” by DPR Live.

“I’ve never heard this song,” Felix says.

“Really??? DPR Live is my favorite Korean rapper,” I responded.

“Who I introduced her to!!!” Violet butted in.

“That’s not important,”

“I introduced you to K-pop! It is important!”

“Yes, and for that I will be forever grateful, my dearest cousin,” I said, leaning forward and attempting to hug her from the seat behind her. She just smacked my hands away, making a disgusted face. 

“This girl hates skinship. Can you believe that? I freaking love hugs and stuff but my best friend hates it,” I said, looking at Felix.

“How dare she reject your hugs!” Felix said, looking at Violet.

“That’s what I’m saying! You’re gonna regret it when I’m in Korea and you can’t hug me even if you wanted to, Viiiii,” I said, dragging out the ‘i’. 

“I’ll enjoy not having to fight you off me,” she joked, turning around to poke me. 

“Betrayed! By my own cousin! And to think, I was going to bequeath all of my kpop posters to you,” I said, dramatically holding my hands over my heart and fake sniffling..

“I take it back! I’ll give you all the hugs! I’m going to sneak in your suitcase so I can hug you all day!” she said , turning around in her seat to face me. Felix laughed at our fake argument, the smile staying on his face.

“I’m taking you home right VIolet?” I heard my mom say

“Please. I don’t wanna third wheel,” She replied, looking over her shoulder and wiggling her eyebrows at me. I just rolled my eyes at her, looking out the window. The rest of the drive went semi calmly, as we were attempting to sing to our favorite K-pop bops. Felix got especially hyped then I put on Dance The Night Away.

  
  


“We’re here” my mom announced as we pulled into the driveway, not long after we dropped off Violet.

“Welcome to my house,” I said to Felix after we jumped out of the car. “That’s Jaxon,” I added, pointing to my basset hound that was sitting in the window.

“Jackson? Like Got7’s Jackson? Jackson Wang?” Felix questioned.

“Kinda. My mom wanted to spell it different. Its J-a-x-o-n,” I said, spelling out my dog’s name.

“That’s cute! I like it,” Felix said, smiling at my dog through the window. We followed my mom into the house, where my dad and younger brother were waiting to meet the guy that had to take me to Korea.

“Hello, Im Felix,” my soulmate said, giving a small bow to my dad and brother.

“Derek. It’s nice to meet you,” My dad said, walking over to give Felix a handshake. 

“I’m sorry I have to take Sam away from you so suddenly,” Felix apologized.

“It’s not your fault, son. You don’t need to apologize.” My dad replied, patting him on the back. 

“I know this probably isn’t a good time to say this, but your voice doesn’t match your face at all,” my brother butt in. Felix and I just started laughing. I almost fell over because I was laughing so hard.

“I know right? I love it though,” I said, after I managed to collect myself. Felix’s face turned a light shade of pink, but I thought it was from the laughing.

“You should start packing Sam” my mom said. I nodded and turned to go to my room, while Felix followed behind me.

“You weren’t lying when you said you walls were covered in posters,” Felix said, looking around my room. His face lit up when he saw my Stray Kids section. I had all of the albums and the light stick as well as a light box arranged on a shelf on my wall. I had my I am Who and I am Not posters on my wall, as well as some fanart Violet made me. I also had a string of photocards, most of which were of Felix. .

“Look! It’s me!” Felix said, pointing to himself. 

“Yeah, I think the universe was trying to tell me something,” I said, blushing. I turned away so I could drag my suitcase out of my closet. Felix continued looking around my room while I looked through the shirts hanging in my closet, trying to decide what to bring with me. After a while, Felix got bored and sat on my bed, playing games on his phone. Out of nowhere, Jaxon came barrelling into my room. He tried to jump up onto my bed, but his legs were too little so he just ended up running into it.

“What did you do that for?” I said, laughing at my dog. I helped him up onto my bed, and he proceeded to attack Felix with love.

“He’s so cute! I love dogs,” Felix laughed, petting Jax.

“Me too. They’re the best things to exist,” I said, returning to my closet. The next time I turned around to put some shirts out, Felix was asleep with Jax on top of him. A wide smile spread across my face and I grabbed my phone, taking some pictures. I let him sleep for the next few hours as I packed. I also took down my posters, so I could give them to Violet. 

  
  


“Hey Sammy, what do you want for dinner?” my dad asked, knocking on my door although it was open.

“I was thinking barbeque. Grilled chicken, baked potatoes, beans, the whole nine yards,” I suggested.

“Saltgrass?” 

“I’d actually rather you cook… I don’t want to take Felix anywhere and risk him getting recognized when he’s with us,” I told my dad.

“Right. I’ll make a run to the HEB then,” he said, leaving my room. Felix woke up from his nap not long after my dad left.

“Good morning Sleeping Beauty,” I said, smiling at him.

“How long was I out?” he asked groggily.

“A few hours. It’s 3pm now,” I informed him. He just nodded and continued cuddling my dog. I had almost all of my clothes picked out, and I just needed to get my toiletries and other necessities. When my dad returned, Felix offered to help cook dinner.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Felix?” I asked, thinking about the pancakes, and that one time with the onions.

“Yes! It can’t be that difficult!” Felix said, knowing why I questioned him.

“You two can handle the sides. I bought some rolls that need to go in the oven, the potatoes need to be baked, and the beans need to be warmed up. Do the potatoes now. They take an hour to cook. I’ll tell you when to do the rest,” My dad said. We nodded and I got the aluminium foil out of the pantry. 

“We just have to rinse the potatoes and wrap them in foil,” I told Felix.

“See? Easy.” He said. He opened the bag of potatoes and we worked together to wrap five potatoes and put them in the oven. I set the timer and we went back into my room. My phone vibrated in my pocket with a notification from Youtube. I unlocked my phone to check it.

“Oh no,” I said to myself.

“Oh no what?” Felix asked, looking at me.

“It’s nothing,” I lied. It was a new Stray Kids crack video from my favorite crack channel. I really wanted to watch it, but I didn’t know if it was safe for Felix to see. I grabbed my earbuds and sat on my bed, Felix sitting down with plenty of space between us. I started watching the video, and successfully managed to keep from laughing. Until a clip that never failed to make me laugh came up. I tried so hard to resist, but I couldn’t. Felix gave me a weird look and asked what was so funny.

“Nothing! I swear!” I said, still laughing. Felix didn’t believe me, and grabbed my wrist, turning my phone to where he could see it.

“Well now I have to watch it. My face is right there,”

I tried to refuse, but Felix pulled out my headphones and played the video. Most of the clips made him laugh, and he loved Stay’s creativity. A Changlix clip came on, and I turned my screen off.

“That’s enough of that,” I said.

“Awe whyyy,” Felix whined.

“There’s something I’d rather you not see. I don’t want to mess up your relationship with the members because of the way some fans perceive stuff,” I explained.

“Ooohh, you mean the ships?”

“You know about those???”

“Yeah, but they don’t bother me,” Felix shrugged. I let out a relieved sigh.

“Sammy! Come do the rolls and the beans,” My dad hollered. We both stood up and went to finish preparing dinner. When it was time to eat, everyone sat around the table. My parents asked Felix a lot of questions. I could tell it was making him nervous. His hands were shaking and he hardly touched his food.

“Okay, that’s all the time we have left for the interview! Sammy says she wants to watch a movie with the family after dinner,” I said, cutting off my parents before they could ask more invasive questions.

“What movie does Sammy want to watch?” my dad asked, his attention turned to me. Felix let out a deep sigh, like he had been holding his breath. 

“I kinda want to watch Glass. You know, the sequel to Split? I was talking about Split with some of my friends the other day and they said Glass was good too,” I said.

“We’ll probably need to get it from Redbox. I don’t think it’s on Netflix,” my mom said.

“Then we can make a HEB run! We can grab popcorn and movie snacks too,” I added.

“We just ate,” my dad said.

“But Felix needs to experience HEB before we leave!” I protested, wanting the take him with us.

“We need breakfast stuff. We can make another run in the morning,” my dad concluded. 

“Okay, that works,” I agreed. After everyone finished eating, my dad went to go get the movie from Redbox. Felix and I sat on a couch in my living room.

“What’s the movie about? Isn’t it scary?” Felix questioned.

“It’s more of a thriller. It’s about three guys with extreme mental disorders. They kill a bunch of people. It’s pretty crazy, but it’s a good movie,” I explained.

“I don’t really do well with scary movies,” Felix said, looking forward.

“Aweee it’s okay Felixie, I’ll protect you,” I said, smiling and softly pinching one of his cheeks.

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Felix jokes, a smile on his face.

“Screw gender roles!” I proudly declared.

“You’re right, it’s 2019,” Felix agreed, nodding. My dad finally returned with the movie, and we began to play it. There were a few parts that made Felix’s skin crawl, as well as a jump scare or two. In the middle of the movie, Felix jumped and grabbed my hand. The butterflies in my stomach instantly woke up, and my cheeks turned a light shade of fire engine red. I was so glad the lights were off. We held hands for the rest of the movie, and Felix would squeeze down hard whenever he got scared. I didn't mind it at all. When the movie was over, Felix let go of my hand and shied away, his face turning a light shade of pink. It was almost 10 pm when it finished, and my parents went to sleep. They had to work the next day. I grabbed a camping cot out of the garage for Felix, and we went to sit in my room.

“Now what?” I asked him.

“We sleep,” Felix said, crashing onto the cot. I grabbed an extra blanket and pillow for him. Jax came into my room, pushing open the door. He jumped on top of Felix, licking his face. We both laughed and Felix hugged my dog tightly. 

“I think he likes you,” I said, a smile on my face.

“I like him too,” he replied, cuddling into my dog. I turned off the light, and my second day of being with Felix came to a close. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I;m really bad at summaries but here we go.
> 
> It's Sammy's last day home.  
> Amusement park!!!   
> A kinda sad goodbye.
> 
> That's it, that's the chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! It's been a hot minute. Sorry about that! I went into one of my depressed episodes and then I started college so I haven't had time or motivation to write. I hope y'all like this chapter!

I woke up to the smell of bacon and a barking basset hound. Jax decided it was time for us to be awake, and Jax got what Jax wanted. Felix was still asleep, and I didn’t want to wake him up yet. I climbed out of bed and stepped over the cot Felix was sleeping on, then opened my door to let Jax and myself out. I closed the door behind me, and walked into the kitchen.

“Morning Dad. I thought you said Felix and I could go with you!” I said, looking at my dad who was already cooking breakfast.

“Y’all took too long to wake up. It’s already 10,” my dad said as he flipped bacon.

“Oh crap,” I said, turning back to my room to go wake Felix up. I shook his shoulder lightly, calling his name.

“Felix,” I said. He still didn’t wake up. “Lixieee. Freckles. The longer it takes you to wake up the more ridiculous the nicknames get,” I warned before continuing, “Baby Koala. Satan’s voice. Yongbokkkk,” I said, shaking his shoulders more vigorously.

“Who called me Yongbok,” Felix asked drowsily, rubbing his eyes.

“That would be me. It’s already 10. Did any of the members text you? We’re supposed to go to Kemah today,” I said, bombarding him with questions.

“Slow down, I’ve been awake like two seconds,” Felix yawned while sitting up and stretching. He ran a hand through his hair and my heart skipped a beat.  _ I don’t think I'll ever get used to how freaking beautiful he is, _ I thought.

“Okay, I’ll give you a minute. Breakfast is almost ready,” I said as I stood up and returned to the kitchen. Felix followed me shortly after, with his phone in his hand.

“Chan said the members are all awake. They’ll leave as soon as we’re ready,” he said, leaning against the counter.

“Is it okay if Violet comes with us?” I questioned.

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem. I’ll call my manager,” Felix replied, looking for his manager’s contact. “He said she can come,” he said after speaking with his manager for a minute. 

“Food’s ready. Make your plates,” my dad said, patting my shoulder. I went to the cabinet to get the plates. They were on a shelf that was pretty high up, and I had to stand on the tips of my toes to reach them. I heard a small laugh behind me, and turned to look at Felix.

“What are you laughing at, Yongbok?” I joked.

“You had to stand on your toes cuz you’re too short to reach! It’s cute,” he replied with a smile on his face. My cheeks started to change colors even though I didn’t tell them to.

“You’re like a few inches taller than me! Violet is the same height as you!” I protested, a bit flustered.

“Still taller” Felix joked, reaching over me to grab a plate. I just rolled my eyes and began assembling my breakfast taco. After we finished eating, we got ready to go.

“Um, you’re going to want to wear something different,” I told Felix, eyeing his black jeans and shirt. “The low for today is 90 degrees. Did you bring shorts? And a non black shirt?” I suggested. I didn’t want my soulmate to die of a heat stroke two days after I found him.

“You’re wearing jeans,” he pointed out.

“Yes but I’ve been living in this weather my whole life. And I don’t have shorts long enough to cover my thighs. I’m not trying to burn my skin off on the rides,” I countered.

“You’re not wrong. Is this better?” Felix asked, rummaging through his suitcase and holding up a pair of denim shorts and a blue short-sleeved button down shirt.

“Yes, much better,” I nodded. He went to the bathroom to change again. While he was gone, I called Violet.

“Hey Vi, can you get dropped off over here? We’re almost ready to go.”

“Yeah, give me five minutes and I’ll be on my way,” Violet said before hanging up

. 

“Can you pass my my phone?” Felix asked when he came out of the bathroom. I grabbed it off the nightstand behind me and extended my arm to hand it to him. The sight of my name on his wrist as he reached for his phone made me smile a bit. Wait. My name. On his wrist. We’re going out in public. What if he gets recognized? They can just give me a camera or something and I can pretend to be a staff member but if a Stay sees he has a soulmate mark… I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen. 

“Felix do you have concealer on you? Or like a watch or bracelet? We have to cover our soulmate marks just in case.

“Oh yeah! You’re right. I don’t have any concealer on me though. We’re pretty close to the same shade though. ANd I can wear my bracelets on top of it too,” Felix suggested. 

“Okay, let me go grab it,” I said before going to the bathroom. Violet arrived right after I finished concealing my own soulmate mark. Not long after, my parents came in my room. They wouldn’t physically see me for who knows how long after today. It still doesn’t feel real. I knew I’d be sad and homesick after I’d been gone a while but in that moment, nothing was there. I felt like I was just saying goodbye temporarily, like I would return the next day. I could tell my parents felt the same way.

“Behave yourself. Don’t get into any trouble!” my dad jokingly warned.

“Dad I can’t walk more than like ten feet away from Felix and my Korean vocabulary is extremely limited,” I replied, hugging my dad.

“If you want anything you left behind, just let us know and we can ship it to you,” my mom said, joining in on the hug.

“Are you sure I can’t turn your room into a game room?” my brother asked, standing a good couple feet away.

“You’re not turning my room into anything. Not yet, at least,” I told him.After my parents released me, my dad took Felix into the dining room to talk to him. I kinda felt bad, and was a little worried about what my dad would have to say. Their talk was cut short when the doorbell rang. It was the manager. He talked to my parents about my living arrangements, and what the company was going to do to help me get settled in Korea. I was going to live in the dorm with the boys, but Felix and I would need to share a room until the company can find a bigger place. When they finished discussing my future, my dad helped bring my bags out to the van. I had one suitcase to check, a smaller suitcase as a carry on, as well as a backpack. I gave my family one last hug before Felix, Violet, and I took the last spots in the 12 passenger van. Chan sat shotgun, while the manager drove. Felix and I sat in the 2nd row from the back, with Seungmin. Violet took the last empty seat, next to Jisung. My phone vibrated in my hand, and I saw a text from Violet.

Bestest Cousin Vi:  _ I'M GOING TO DIE _

_ IM SITTING NEXT TO one of MY BIASes RIGHT NOW _

After reading the messages, I looked at Violet, who turned around to look at me. Her face was starting to change colors, and she looked like she was going to scream and burst into tears at the same time. I just laughed at her, while the boys talked amongst themselves. When the manager pulled away from my house, I could see my parents waving. I waved back, although I knew they couldn’t see me because of the window tinting. I was in a weird trance as we left my neighborhood and drove down streets I had seen all my life. I was snapped out of it when Chan plugged in his phone to the AUX import.

“Any song recommendations?” He asked, first in Korean, then in English. 

“Maze of Memories!!!” Violet exclaimed, requesting one of our favorite songs on the new album. I switched my brain into Crackhead Stay mode in order to keep the sad thoughts away/

“Yo I love the group that made that song! What are they called again?” I asked.

“I think it’s Straight Kids?” Violet replied, playing along with me.

“Nonono, I thought it was Stary Kids,” I added. Chan and Felix let out a sigh at the same time. Violet and I burst into laughter and high fived.

“Turn it up Chris!” Violet and I said at the same time, right before Changbin’s part came on. Chan did as we asked and turned it up.

“I felt that in my SOUL, Changbin” I said, turning around to face him as his rap exploded through the car. Shy Binnie mode was activated, and he gave me a small smile and thanked me. It looked like he was going to try to say something else, but my favorite part of the song came on.

“IMMA LOOK BACK, IMMA LOOK BACK TO THE FUTURE IN FACT, LET ME EXAMINE THE PROGRESS, THE DEMONS THAT TRY TO SUFFOCATE THE ROAD TO SUCCESS, IMMA LOOK FORWARD INTO THE SEA, OBLIVIOUS SEA I CALL HISTORY, THUNDEROUS WAVES THAT RAGE DESTROYING THE MAZE OF MEMORIES, I WANNA SEE,” I exclaimed, complete with the Aussie accent. All of the members were a little surprised, but no one said anything until the song ended.

“That’s so cute!” Seugmin said, nudging Felix with his elbow,”She knows your lines!”

“It’s just cuz they’re in English!” I said, my face turning a light shade of pink.

“Awweeee, you know my linesss” Felix said, poking my shoulder with a smile on his face. I just rolled my eyes and grinned, poking him back. 

About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the boardwalk. There wasn’t a lot of people, as it was a Tuesday morning. That meant short lines, and a very small chance of the members being recognized. The manager went to buy our ride passes while the rest of us looked at the rides.

“Woah! That… that ride.. The one with the animals..” Felix said, pointing at the merry go round with his eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember what it was called.

“The merry go round? Carousel?” I said, offering both names the ride goes by.

“Yeah that! I forgot the word,” he chuckled, “it has two floors!”

The manager returned and passed out the plastic wristbands. Felix was struggling with his, so I reached for his wrist to help him.

“Is this too tight?” I asked before fastening the button.

“No, it’s perfect,” he responded. I secured the wristband, and held onto his hand a little longer than I should have.

“Do you need help with yours,” Felix questioned after he saw I hadn’t put my wristband on yet. I nodded and gave him my wristband, even though I could do it myself. 

“Wow what Kdrama is that???” Violet called from a few feet away. She had watched the whole interaction, and felt the need to pick on me.

“Gah I think there’s a fly over here or something,” I said, trying to annoy Violet. Felix laughed at us as he snapped the button on my wristband closed. Violet took the 5 seconds I stopped paying attention to her to sneak behind me.

“Buzz buzz bitch,” she whispered in my ear. I jumped at least a foot in the air and turned around and was a centimeter away from slapping her. Once my brain registered that it was indeed Violet, I proceeded to punch her shoulder.

“Ow! Felix, you see the way she treats me?” Violet whined, holding onto her shoulder.

“That’s what you get. And I didn’t even punch you that hard!” I retaliated.

“You two act like Seungmin and I.N.” Felix said, smiling. After that, Chan called everyone together.

“Okay, we can split into groups to go on rides. I want at least one English speaker in every group just in case. Meet back here at five so we can decide on dinner,” Bang Leader instructed. Felix, Violet, Hyunjin, Jisung, and I ended up going together. The rides near where we were standing were the carousel, the ferris wheel, and the Hypno Spin.

“Vi, should we start them out with something easy?” I inquired.

“I vote yes,” Felix said, looking up at the Drop Zone ride, that could be seen from any point in the park, with fear.

“I know you and Jisung don’t do very well on rides,” I said, remembering watching them in Lotte World on The 9th.

“How about we do the carousel and Hypno Spin first? They don’t go up,” Violet suggested. The boys agreed and walked to the carousel. There wasn’t a line, and we got let on as soon as we walked up. 

“Can we go on the top floor?” Felix asked excitedly. I nodded and we walked around the ride, to the stairs. 

“I call the rabbit!” Violet exclaimed, running up first. Jisung climbed onto the ostrich, Felix chose the zebra, Hyunjin chose one of the horses and I chose the other. Felix’s zebra was directly behind my horse. When the ride started, I turned around to see him. He had a wide smile and his hair was blown back from the wind. He wasn’t wearing makeup, and the bright sunlight made his freckles stand out.  _ He’s so breathtaking _ I thought, a smile spreading across my face. I grabbed my phone from my pocket, and took a few pictures of him. When he noticed, he grinned and shot me some hearts. Felix grabbed his phone out of his pocket and started taking pictures of me.

“Nope! Not allowed! Illegal!” I exclaimed, turning back around so he couldn’t see my face.

“Why not?” Felix questioned.

“I belong behind the camera. I’m a photographer, and no one photographs the photographer,” I replied, making up a dumb excuse. He doesn’t need to know about my self esteem issues. Not yet, at least.

After the ride finished, Violet led the way to the Hypno Spin. it was only a few yards away from the carousel. Again, there was no line. Felix and I got into one of the carts, while Violet sat with Jisung and Hyunjin. I could hear Violet screaming with delight, and saw her hands in the air. I let go of the bar and held my hands up as we spun. The ride ended much too fast for my liking, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. 

“Y’all are really going to like this next one,” I told the boys. I gave Violet the look, and she knew exactly which ride I wanted to go on next. We linked arms and skipped happily over to the Pharaoh's Fury. Chan, Woojin, and I.N had just begun to walk up the ramp for the ride, and we started running to catch up to them. Until I started feeling a little lightheaded. Felix was clearly not as excited about the ride as I was, and had stopped dead in his tracks. I walked back towards him, so we didn’t pass out.

“A viking ride? Do I have to?” Felix asked, his eyes begging for me to say he didn’t have to go on.

“Pleaseeee! I really love this one. We can sit in the middle if you want,”

“I don’t know…” Felix trailed off.

“I’ll take one selfie with you for every ride you go on that you’re scared of,” I offered. 

“Just one?”

“Take it or leave it, Lixie,” I said, hoping he would agree.

“Fine.” he sighed, and began dragging his feet towards the ride. 

“Yay!” I exclaimed. I grabbed his arm and dragged him behind me, until we caught up with Violet and the rest of the members. We all got onto the ride, and Felix was gripping the bar so tightly his knuckles started turning white.

“Oh my GOd,” Felix gasped when the ride started moving. When it went to its full height, Felix let out a deep shriek that came from the bottom of his soul. I could feel the panic radiating off of him, so I peeled one of his hands off the bar and held it tight. I screamed with him when the ride went up again. Even after the ride finished, he didn’t let go of my hand. We were the last to get off, and Felix almost ran down the exit ramp.

“You survived!” I exclaimed, a happy smile on my face.

“Let’s not do that again,” Felix replied, still tense.

“Okayyyy. Time for your prize!” I said, grabbing my phone and opening Snapchat. “Pick a filter!” Felix took my phone in his free hand and looked through the snapchat filters. He picked the one with the pink hearts, and we took a selfie with Pharaoh's Fury in the background.

“We’re going to the other side of the park. Bye!” Chan waved as they walked away.

“I’m hungry” Hyunjin declared. 

“Let’s take a break from the rides and grab a snack,” I nodded, agreeing with Hyunjin. “There’s a strip center with a bunch of shops. There’s also a few snack carts around. What kind of food do y’all want?”

“It’s really hot. What about something cold?” Felix suggested.

“There’s an ice cream shop!”

“Ice cream? Yes! I want ice cream,” Hyunjin replied, his eyes lighting up.

“Me too! I want ice cream,” Jisung added, raising his hand like a little kid.

“Survey says: ice cream! This way!” I announced, turning in the direction of the ice cream shop.

“My lactose intolerant ass could never,” Violet said, walking next to me.

“You’re lactose intolerant? We can get something else-” Felix said

“No no! I’ll just get a lemonade from a stand,” Violet replied, shaking her head. “Did the ride shake you up that much?” she asked mischievously, looking at our hands that were still entwined. Both of our faces turned pink, and we quickly let go.

“Yeah, yeah.. I uh haven’t been on rides in a while,” he sputtered, very obviously flustered.

“He nearly busted my eardrums with all his screaming,” I teased. 

“I wasn’t screaming that loud!” he protested.

“Felix. You screamed louder than Violet when Wonho took off his shirt at the Monsta X concert we went to last year,” 

“Can confirm. I heard you,” Violet added. Felix’s face flushed a deeper shade of pink and he didn’t know how to respond to our teasing.

“Look! There’s the shop,” I pointed up to a balcony that overlooked the water fountains you can play in. Hyunjin and Jisung excitedly walked faster, racing each other to the shop. “Come on Felix!” I said, linking arms with him and attempting to catch up with Hyunsung. 

  
  


After hours of running around the amusement park, five PM rolled around. We made our way to the meeting spot we decided on earlier that morning. We were the last group to make it to the spot, and they boys were already discussing where they wanted to eat.

“Our tour guides have finally decided to join us!” Chan said when he saw us approaching. 

“We need help deciding where to eat,” Their manager said.

“What are y’all in the mood for? Saltgrass has great steak, but is expensive. The Pizza Oven has some of the best pizza,” I suggested my two favorite restaurants.

“There’s also Bubba Gump! It has a little bit of everything. Mainly seafood though. It’s Forrest Gump themed. I like it a lot,” Violet added. Chan and the members discussed the options, and decided on Bubba Gump. 

“Table for thirteen,” I said to the hostess after we entered.

“Indoor or outdoor seating?” she inquired.

“Outdoor,” Violet responded. 

“Is your party okay with splitting into two tables?” the hostess asked.

“Yes, that’s fine!” I answered, nodding. She grabbed our menus and silverware and led us to our tables. There was no one else sitting outside, and the ocean breeze paired with the umbrellas provided relief from the sun. The older members (Manager- Hyunjin) sat at one table, while the maknaes (Jisung-I.N), Violet, and myself sat to the other. The boys really enjoyed the restaurant. They did their best to speak English, and it resulted in Violet and I bursting into giggles because our UwU boxes broke.

“Jisung, you pronunciation is really good! You just need more practice speaking, then you’ll be more confident,” I told him after I recovered from one of my giggle fits.

“You think so?” Jisung said, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“Yeah! I can help all of you with English, if you help me learn Korean. I started trying to learn a few times but I lost motivation. I can read hangul pretty decently, but I have no idea what any of it means,” I informed the boys.

“We’ll definitely help you! I think I have some of my old workbooks somewhere in the dorm,” Felix offered. I was really excited to learn Korean, because I wanted to be able to communicate clearly with all of the members. I wanted to be close to them. I wanted them to like me. In this household, it’s nine or none. That’s the way it all began, and I wanted to carry that sentiment into the rest of my life with Stray Kids. I knew I would be closest to Felix, obviously, but I didn’t want to remove him from his family. I wanted to become part of it, and learning Korean was completely necessary to do that.

When 6:30 came around, Violet’s dad arrived to pick her up. She gripped me in a hug so tight I couldn’t breathe.

“Sammy, I’m going to miss you so much! You have to text me everyday. And be a good cousin and get me some merch. It’s so much cheaper over there,” Violet said with her arms locked around me.

“I’m going to miss you too Vi. I already text you every day, doofus. I promise I won’t stop. We’ll see about the merch. I don’t wanna mooch off of JYP or Felix too much.” I said, replying to all of her statements. I squeezed her tightly, not wanting to let go. Her phone rang: her dad was growing impatient. We reluctantly let go, and Violet began walking away. She turned around to wave at me, and sad smile on her face. I didn’t want to let go of my best friend. Not yet. Some speed demon possessed me and I bolted towards her, wrapping my arms around her with a grip that probably would have crushed a tin can. We almost fell over, and I almost passed out because I was too far from Felix. Luckily one of us has at least a little bit of common sense. He had gotten out of his seat and moved closer to us, so we’d both stay conscious. 

“One more selfie,” I requested, digging my phone out of my pocket. Violet laughed and agreed, taking a few pictures with me. When I finally had to watch her walk away, Felix came closer and patted my shoulder.

“I love you best cousin!” I shouted as Vi walked down the pier.

“I love you too!” Violet yelled back, making a big heart with her arms. When she was gone, I turned and went back to the table. It was almost time for us to go too. 

We piled into the van at 7, and went straight to the airport. There weren’t any fans waiting, because the boys were supposed to have left the day before. We made it through security, and boarded the plane without a problem. The sun was wetting as the plane took off. I took some pictures of the Houston skyline, a stranger melancholy feeling filling my entire body. It was the end of one chapter in my life, and everything was about to change. As I looked out the window of the plane, I promised myself, Stay, and Stray Kids that I would be the best version of me. That I would make the most of my new start, and I would make the members and their fans proud. After that plane ride, I knew nothing would ever be the same.


End file.
